February 2012

Dear Friends,

Later this year I shall be taking three months out of the parish for an Extended Study Leave. This is something that the Diocese encourages clergy to do periodically. The theory (and my experience) is that day-to-day life can become so pressing and immediate that there is little time to reflect and study.

I intend to do a number of things but there will be two main projects. First, I want to read a pile of books that I’ve been buying and putting on my shelf ‘for another day’.

Second, I’m planning to walk on a pilgrimage to Santiago De Compostela in northern Spain. I’ll be starting in southwest France and the journey should be 490 miles over thirty-two days. This will give me the opportunity to walk with no agenda except to have time for God. I’m going on my own but people who have done it before tell me that you fall into a walking pattern with others doing the same thing.

Meanwhile the parish will function perfectly well without me. Some people imagine that clergy are like organists playing beautiful music while the audience sits passively enjoying the performance. This is a very unhelpful and false model of ministry. A much better one is that of a conductor who doesn’t play an instrument himself but is able to co-ordinate a group of talented musicians who participate together in producing something beautiful. I’m sure my absence will be a creative time.

Nearer my departure I’ll make sure that it’s clear how to contact the right people should you need to. It will be a real privilege and I’m greatly looking forward to it.

Douglas Wren